Konnichiwa! Let's see, in a nutshell, this story is about everyone's favorite psychopath, Yukishiro Enishi (!!) and an original character of mine. Yup, that's all I'll say about it.
DISCLAIMER: (This is for the WHOLE STORY (so I won't re-post it every chapter)) I don't own Rurouni Kenshin! In fact, none of us do! We're all just crazed otaku fans!! (unless you're Watsuki-sensei, in which I humbly bow down to your swirly eyed greatness).
SPOILER ALERT: READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS!!!
This story will have a lot of spoilers about the Jinchuu ark, as its written in the Ruroken manga. IF you have seen Samurai X: Reflections and think you know what exactly happened in the Jinchuu ark, THEN YOU ARE WRONG. It is this one's humble opinion that that movie bites arse and if you are a real RuroKen fan (or Enishi fan, for that matter), then you'll go read the Jinchuu ark (volumes 18-28). The Jinchuu ark can be found at Maigo-chan's Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translation Page (at least, that's where I read it). Just Google it and it'll come up (I would post the address, but won't let me...). If you still can't find it, email me and I'll give you the url!
Trust me, you want to read the Jinchuu ark.
Happy Reading!!!
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Chapter 1: A Search
Hundreds of people swarmed around her as she stepped off the platform. The port was busy with work as sailors loaded and unloaded cargo, and people were reunited with friends and family.
So many people...
Of course she should've realized that Tokyo would be full of people. Being the capital of Japan and a busy port, it was only natural. How she ever thought she would find him, she wasn't sure.
She gave a small sigh as she shouldered her small bag that carried her few belongings, then she strode forth into the large mass of people.
The only lead she had was one name: Himura Kenshin.
"I swore I'd kill him, and carry out my Jinchuu..."
A small frown creased her mouth as she remembered his words. Still, no matter what, she had to find him.
She wondered if she would find him basking in the dark light of revenge, or slumped in defeat, failing what he had obsessed over for over fifteen years.
Or maybe even dead.
Either way she had to find him.
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She ran as fast as her bare feet could carry her, jumping over debris and trash that littered the street. After what seemed like miles, the shop keeper had finally stopped chasing her. She allowed a small triumphant smile to creep onto her lips as she hugged the two loaves of bread that she had hidden under her shirt closer to herself. She noticed the covetous looks she was getting from the people that were scattered on the street around her, and stood up straight and walked proudly away from them.
No way they were getting what she had almost died to accomplish.
She hurried back to her miniscule residence, her stomach growling in anticipation. She grinned at the thought of being full for the first time in weeks.
The shopkeepers had begun to get suspicious of her a while ago. At first they didn't really suspect or notice her, since she was only an inconspicuous little girl. But after a while they noticed the few missing items of food that seemed to disappear when she was around. Of course they put two and two together, and soon she was being hustled out of stores before she could even see what type of merchandise they had.
She'd have to find a new way to get food.
Oh well, she'd worry about it later.
She was almost home when something she saw out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She kept running as she stared at a boy that was slumped against the wall of one of the many poorly made shacks. Normally she wouldn't pay attention to the hundreds of beggars and starving children that normally wandered the streets of Shanghai.
However...
...Not only was he wearing strange clothes...
...But he had hair that was as white as snow.
Before she passed out of his sight, he glanced at her. Empty jade green eyes devoid of feeling stared at her listlessly. She couldn't help staring back, feeling as if she was swept back to another part of her life.
She tore her eyes away from his as her mind returned to the present, and hurried on down the street, burying the image of his eyes into the back of her mind.
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She was panting slightly as she plopped down in her little house. She struggled to get the bread out, since she didn't even have any room sit up straight. Her little "house" was really a small opening that she had found under one of the many bridges. She didn't have room for anything but a few clay pots that she had found in the street. Then again, she didn't have anything else to put into her home. Still, it served its purpose of keeping strangers and the weather out, and giving her a sense of having somewhere to return. It made her feel that maybe, she wasn't so bad off.
That she was different from the hundred homeless and starving people that dragged themselves through the city, looking for scraps of food and rats to eat.
She remembered the boy with the snow white hair as she looked at the loaves of bread that sat innocently, almost enticingly, in front of her.
His eyes had an emptiness to them that was different than everyone else's. Only someone that had lost everything that had ever been dear to them could have eyes like that.
Everything.
Just like she had.
Her conscience plagued and nagged at her, until she gave a defeated sigh and stuffed the two loaves back into her shirt. She managed to wriggle out of the small opening, then hurried back down the street, retracing her steps warily.
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What is this...?
His head throbbed agonizingly in an unbearable beat, but he had learned to ignore it. Just like he had grown accustomed to the constant pain that shot through his body, sending waves of hot hurt up his arms and legs, and the fever that burned him every agonizing minute. He had no strength left.
Is this... how it feels to die?
It had almost been a month since he arrived in the Chinese demon city, Shanghai. He had no money left, and had gone to extreme measures just to survive. But now, his energy was completely drained. He didn't have the strength to even hunt for rats or wounded animals to eat.
He could feel death approaching him, heavily silent steps gliding in a thick haze towards him.
Is this how you felt... Nee-san?
Death had stopped now, and he could feel its ominous presence in front of him. He didn't want to die yet.
He couldn't die yet.
He still had to kill him...
"Here," Death said in Chinese as it thrust something towards him. He glanced up to see not a rotting oni threatening him with a bloody chain covered sword, but a young girl holding out a piece of food for him. He looked at her in the eye, and managed a harsh glare.
"I don't need your pity..." he muttered listlessly as his eyes moved slowly back down to the ground. She just kept staring at him, the piece of bread still held out towards him.
"If you don't want it then I'll eat it," she said a little harshly a while after he had spoken. She didn't know if he understood her or not, since he remained silent as she waited for him to respond. In the end, he lifted his hand up and opened his palm, waiting to receive the loaf, which she shoved into his hand languidly.
She watched as he gazed at the brown loaf, as if debating whether to eat it or not. Eventually he began to eat it, in slow bites. His hunger began to show as he began taking bigger and faster chunks. Soon he was practically ripping the bread apart as he wolfed it down.
"You shouldn't..." she began to say, but then she noticed to look of horror he suddenly got in his eyes. She quickly stepped to the side, avoiding the mess of vomit that suddenly erupted out of his gut.
He clutched his abdomen as the entire contents of his stomach poured out in front of him, including the bread that was the little bit of food that he had had in days. His eyes began to tear up as the acidic stench filled his nose, and his throat burned painfully as he forced the little saliva he had left down it.
"What have you been eating?" she asked. He was surprised to hear a tone of concern in her voice. He had understood her this time, and he didn't really want to answer. But what did it matter now? He was practically rotting away in front of her, how much lower could he go?
"Anything," he finally muttered as he gripped his stomach and sat back up. She looked at him questioningly, and he knew for sure that she didn't know any Japanese.
"Anything," he growled, feeling irritated. "Trash, rats, anything I can get my hands on. Even dead bodies, if I have to." He motioned to the filthy street around them, and she watched as rats darted around picking at the trash. She followed one with her eyes, and watched until it stopped in front of one of the many dead bodies that littered the street. She pointed to it and gave him a questioning look, which he avoided as he gazed intently at the ground.
He didn't... Did he...?
"Why?" she spoke softly at him, her brow furrowing. Her eyes widened slightly as a manic grin spread across his face, although a strange sadness remained in his eyes.
"Because... I have to kill him... I need to kill him..." She watched as his whole body shook violently, and weeks of exhaustion and malnutrition finally took its toll. He collapsed into a pathetic heap of rags and bones that seemed to be covered only in skin, his white hair standing out vividly between it all.
She looked at him, wondering what would drive him to such drastic measures. How much had been stolen from him, that he needed to devour the plagued dead in the street just to live? She almost wished she could speak his language, although she wasn't even sure he'd answer any questions.
She looked at him now, and once again felt a pang of relativity to his position. She had lost everything, and now here she was. He had lost it all too, but, unlike her, he had something that drove him to survive that she knew was beyond a primal instinct, as was her life. She would rather starve before eating a lifeless corpse of a human, but he obviously was ready to do anything to live. Was he trying to gain back what he had lost?
She sighed silently and shut her eyes for a second. When she opened them, he was still there, pitiably sprawled on the filthy ground as he breathed short, painful breaths.
Damn it. She was too nice for this city.
She avoided the pool of vomit on the ground as she stepped towards him. She reached out to him, but hesitated for a second. He seemed to be semi unconscious, if that was even possible. His eyes were half open, staring blankly at nothing as sweat collected on his brow.
She sighed once again, and finally gripped his shoulders and sat him up. He didn't seem to notice this, so she continued. She slung both his arms over shoulders, so that his face was by hers and the tips of his feet would drag behind her. After much effort she managed to stand up, painfully realizing that he was much taller than she and that more than the tips of his feet would drag. However, since he was so skinny now he probably didn't weigh much more than she did.
"What are you doing?" She heard him murmur something under his breath. She glanced at him, noticing that his eyes were now closed and that he was frowning. "I told you I didn't want your pity."
"Shut up, you have to save your energy," she responded crossly, although what he had said was a complete mystery to her. "I'm doing you a big favor. Besides, you can't die, right?" He didn't answer, and she wondered if he had passed out again.
"Battousai..." he muttered in a daze, making her curiosity for this boy with snow-white hair grow even more.
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Nee-san...
He felt his head pound as he opened his eyes slowly. What had happened?
He tried to sit up, but complaints from his body and the low ceiling made him lay back down with a groan.
He heard a small voice that was coming from the other side of the small room. He tilted his head up and noticed a Chinese girl that was curled up into a small corner, taking up as little room as possible. She had dirty jet black hair that was tied into a messy ponytail with a piece of cloth, and her clothes were ordinary shabby peasant clothes. He never would've thought anything different of her, except that she had slate blue eyes that seemed unusually apathetic. He tilted his head back down and stared at the ceiling. From the little Chinese he had picked up on the ship and by listening to others, she had said something about finally being awake.
"Why did you bring me here?" he asked. She didn't answer, but just looked at him thoughtfully. After a while she spoke again, and he gathered that she thought he was sick.
"So?" he muttered. "No one else seems to care." She didn't answer as she watched him. His cold dark eyes didn't move, and she wondered what he could be thinking about.
Nee-san...
She pointed to the his left, and he turned his head to the side and noticed a slightly cracked clay pot with some river water leaking out of it, and a loaf of bread similar to the one he had taken from her the day before. She either had more food than most, or she hadn't eaten anything herself. It didn't matter; she was giving it to him.
She muttered something before leaving through the small opening, leaving him to decipher just what she said. He closed his eyes, and soon a small voice in his head repeated what she had said, more or less.
Eat it or not, I don't care. Just leave if you're going to die, I don't want to find a dead body in here.
He mentally shrugged, then propped himself on his elbow and took the bread. He began eating it slowly, and drinking water. He didn't want to repeat what had happened last time.
After he was done he lay back down and closed his eyes. He didn't sleep however, letting old memories and thoughts flood back to him and plague ever nerve in his body.
Hitokiri Battousai...
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She ran down the street, dodging the small string of people that actually had money and were shopping for food. The two large oranges that she clutched close to her chest gathered attention, she could see that.
It had taken her all day to find just the right store and just the right time. Nevertheless, she had almost been caught. And if she got caught here, they'd either beat her or kill her. She didn't really prefer either.
She needed to find a way to either get money or find a new way to steal.
Still, at least she had found something to eat for the time being.
She squirmed through the small opening to her hovel, pushing the oranges in first. As she went in, she noticed that he was now sitting up, hunched over since he was so much taller than she. He made no sign of noticing her entrance. She frowned.
"Here," she tossed an orange at him, hoping to hit him out of sleep. However, he lifted his hand up at just the right time and caught the orange without looking up. She gave him a skeptical look as she sat down with her orange. He looked down at the orange globe in his hand, then looked up at her with the same cold look that he always had.
He raised an eyebrow at her, as if asking "Where did you get this?"
"Where do you think?" she shrugged. "I stole it." He glanced at her as she began to peel her orange wearily. Soon she was cramming whole rinds into her mouth. He just looked at his orange.
"You'd better eat that," she frowned. "I almost died getting it." She wasn't exaggerating. He didn't make any implications of hearing or understanding her, and simply began to peel his orange.
"You haven't been in Shanghai for too long, have you?" she asked. He didn't answer at first as he slowly chewed his orange. After a few minutes he held up one finger. "One what? Month, year, day?" He muttered the Chinese word for "month."
"I've been wandering around Shanghai for about three years now," she mused, mostly to herself. "I've been in this part of the city for almost two months. It's almost time to move on."
He remained silent as he seemed to concentrate, and she wondered if he was actually trying to understand what she had said.
"Why?" he asked eventually as he pushed a piece of orange into his mouth.
"Because, then the shopkeepers know your face and they can always tell you're gonna steal something." Neither tried to strike up another conversation, so they remained silent as they finished off the rest of their oranges.
"It's late," she said as she tossed her peel out the small hole. "I'm going to sleep." He watched as she curled back up into her small corner and closed her eyes. He put his orange peels to the side and also rested his head against the wall, closing his eyes, silently waiting for his blood stained Nee-san and the red haired hitokiri to step into his dreams as they often did.
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"I'm going now," she said as she made her way to the entrance.
"You shouldn't go," he hope he said in crude Chinese as he narrowed his eyes. He had heard her groans in the night. Obviously, oranges weren't the best thing for your stomach if there was nothing but acid in it. Even now she had a pained look in her eyes, and he knew she wouldn't last long if she tried to steal something in her present condition.
"I'm f-fine," she tried to say reassuringly, although the stutter didn't help. "Get some rest, you still need it." He had been feeling a little better after getting better food than he usually did, but his body was still weak. He didn't say anything as he watched her wriggle out of the small opening.
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She stumbled along the market street as if in a daze. She felt horrible, and she had just thrown up the orange she had eaten the night before and her head was pounding as sweat trickled down it. She needed to find something acid-free that would help ease her stomach. But was she up to stealing now that her mind was preoccupied on her pain?
She shook her head as if trying to clear her thoughts. She needed concentration. This pain was nothing, she had been through worse. And she had survived. She just needed to concentrate.
Just then she noticed a stall in front of her. Incredibly, the shopkeeper was nowhere in sight. She grinned at her luck, mentally thanking the idiot store owner for leaving all his goods unguarded.
She waited for a while until there was the least amount of people around the stall. After making sure that he hadn't come back, she bolted into the shop. Quickly she grabbed a few things, then made her way out of the shop. Just as she darted out the door, she ran straight into what felt like a brick wall. She looked up in horror to see the shopkeeper and two other men standing in front of her, grinning widely in triumph. She tried to run around them, but one of them grabbed her by the collar and picked her small body up with one hand.
"So you're the little thief," growled the shopkeeper. "We've been waiting for you..."
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She was later than she had been the day before. He wondered if she had trouble finding anything, or if she had actually gotten in trouble. Oh well, not his problem. He had told the girl not to go.
Just then, outside he heard the sound of someone groan as they collapsed onto the ground. He raised his eyebrow, then made his way out of the little hole. The afternoon light strained his eyes a bit, since he had been in a dark room for almost two days now. He looked down, and realized that it was the girl that had collapsed. Her face was buried in one arm as she lay on her belly.
"Hey," he said as he bent down. "Hey, what're you doing?" She didn't answer him, so he prodded her with one finger. She still didn't make any notion of having felt him. To his surprise, he felt a small bubble of worry blow up in him, so he kneeled down and turned her over.
His eyes widened in shock when he saw her. Her face was covered in scrapes, bruises, and blood, as was the rest of her body, her clothes stained with dirt and Kami knew what else. One of her arms was bent weirdly, and he figured that it was broken. Her eyes were halfway open, slate blue looking dully at nothing, and he knew that she was unconscious. She had let herself get caught.
He frowned. Stupid girl, she should've known this would happen. It wasn't his problem. He hadn't asked to be saved by her. He owed her nothing.
He began to walk away, leaving the pathetic figure behind him.
Surprisingly, he couldn't get the image of her face out of his mind.
He sighed audibly and turned his head and glanced at her. Her blue eyes were still watching nothing, and he knew that she wouldn't last long.
What do you think I should do, Nee-san?
At that moment, in a flash, he saw an image of his precious sister standing by the limp body of the young girl. He listlessly turned around and went to her. She'd have to be taken to a doctor, although he had no idea how he'd pay for it, so he tried to pick her up. He slung her arm over his shoulder and wrapped his other arm around her waist. He tried to stand up, but realized that he was still incredibly weak. A loaf of bread and an orange couldn't make up for a month of hardly any food.
His whole body shook as he attempted to take the girl to anybody that could help. He felt the little energy he had accumulated draining as he took each step. He had only walked a few blocks, and he was already almost back to his earlier pathetic weak state. Her body became heavier and heavier with each passing step as his own began to shake violently, and soon he knew he couldn't hold her.
He miss-stepped and both of them went crashing to the ground. He couldn't move her small body off of his, and there was a sharp pain in his side. His head spun as he tried to look around, and he noticed that everything seemed darker and blurrier. He couldn't go any further.
He figured it wouldn't be long, so he waited for death...
"Hey, are you all right?!" The voice seemed to echo from someplace far away. "How could a Japanese boy and a little girl...? Quick, get him some medicine!"
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Does it hurt...?
Flames envelop the figure in front of her. She can see a sorrowful smile on her lips.
Does it hurt much...?
Her arms reach out towards her, and she tries to touch her hands. The smoke fills the air and burns tears into her eyes. Her arms drop limply to her sides in defeat.
Where are you going?
She says something to her, something soft and sweet that doesn't make it across the roaring flames to her ears. She wants to cry out to her, and ask her what she said. But it's too late. Fire falls from the sky and crushes the figure that is soon lost in the orange red madness.
Don't go... Mommy....
She wakes suddenly with a gasp. The smell of burning wood still fills her nose, and she can see the small figure of her mother being swallowed into the burning house. Soon the image fades away, though, and she realizes she's not in her own home.
She feels the luxurious touch of soft silk sheets, and smells the wonderful aroma of food. She looks around to see that she's in a nicely furnished room and a soft white bed. She touches her face and realizes that someone's wrapped her wounds, even her arm which is tightly bound in a splint and in a sling.
She hears a sweet voice say something softly. She looks up to the door to see a maternally looking woman in a strange outfit walking in with a tray of food.
"What...?" she begins to ask, but the woman stops her and shakes her head. She gently nudges her back down to the sheets, then says the Chinese word for "rest" in a strange accent.
She didn't know what was going on. Who was the strange woman and why was she taking care of her? She watched as the woman set the tray of food in front of her.
She looked up at the woman in surprise, then down to the tray in front of her. It seemed to be a thick soup, with real meat that wasn't any vermin, and had vegetables swimming around. There were also some buns of some kind, and an herb tea.
She looked at the woman with a look of confusion and hunger. The woman laughed, then said "eat" in her strange accent. She beamed at the woman thankfully, then picked up the chopsticks and began eating ravenously.
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